Huawei Mate 10 Pro in the U.S.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro in the U.S.

Huawei’s flagship Mate 10 Pro is coming to the United states in the midst of controversy. After a deal collapsed with AT&T, the $799 phone is on it’s way to stores near you and without a carrier. Huawei-AT&T deal for the Mate 10 Pro didn't materialize because of “political pressure”, after the Senate and House intelligence committees sent a letter to the FCC raising concerns about Huawei’s plans and loyalty. The lawmakers were concerned over the Chinese tech giant’s alleged political and intelligence ties. Verizon also had plans to sell a Huawei Mate series smartphone later this year. However, reports now say the carrier is also under political pressure to cancel the launch. The Chinese tech giant has sold phones unlocked in the U.S. for years, but it always hoped to bring one of its smartphones to the West with a carrier partner.

The phone is available in midnight blue, titanium grey, and mocha brown and will be sold unlocked at Best Buy, Amazon, Microsoft, Newegg, and B&H on Feb. 18, with pre-orders beginning Feb. 4. The $799 device gets you a 6-inch 18:9 OLED screen, the AI-infused Kirin 970 processor, Android Oreo, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a Leica-branded 12-megapixel dual camera setup. A Porsche Design version of the Mate 10 will also be available. The non-Pro Mate 10 is a slightly different phone with a 16:9 LCD screen; the Porsche Design version will cost a whopping $1,225 for a model with 256GB of storage. Both phones will start shipping on February 18. It’ll be compatible with GSM networks in the US, including AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket, MetroPCS, Simple Mobile, and Tracfone.

Huawei also just named "Wonder Woman" actress Gal Gadot its official brand ambassador in the US, in hopes that Gadot's popularity and backing will put the world's third largest phone maker on the national stage for the first time in years. Huawei is gambling on Gadot’s fame and fanbase to help them climb the ranks in the States and around the world. It is a very competent phone but unfortunately due to the lack of a US carrier, it will not perform well in the US market. It also wouldn’t get enough attention because of the unavailability in carrier stores. Huawei had some non-smartphone news to share at CES this year. The company is launching the world’s first hybrid smart home network solution, it aims to support the long list of WiFi connected home products. The Huawei WiFi Q2 Series will automatically connect to the fastest hotspot and frequency nearby to deliver a strong & reliable signal throughout the house.This partnership collapse must be a difficult ordeal for Huawei, pulling out of a major partnership deal like this, days before its announcement, is a big deal and will definitely not go unnoticed by the American public. It puts Huawei in a bad spotlight and raises consumers eyebrows, the feeling of nationalism kicks in within the consumers.